


Daddy and Miss May

by MelindaTheCavalryMay



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Daddy Coulson, F/M, Family, Fluff, a little bit angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 03:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3312404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelindaTheCavalryMay/pseuds/MelindaTheCavalryMay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>written for Philinda AU challenge. When Martial Arts teacher Melinda May is forced to hold a mommy and kids day at her training institute, something promising happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daddy and Miss May

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own AoS or marvel. Just a huge fan.

"Mom and Kids Day" the banner read bright and clear. All the decorations were done with and kids had started coming in holding hands of their mothers. Their tiny little hands holding tightly to their mums was a wonderful sight to see.  
Melinda May couldn't help but smile at how everything looked really adorable, to be frank it didn't seem quite logical to celebrate Mother's Day at a martial arts training school, but the PR had felt holding a Mom and Kids day would attract more people to their school and maybe some moms may enroll themselves as well after seeing what their kids were taught.

Melinda May had always believed the foundation towards good martial arts skills should be laid at a young age itself,so she didn't have any qualms when she was asked to take up classes of kids below 10, 4 months back along with the usual ones that she had been taking in the past few years at this institute. 

As the kids changed into their attire before training, in order to showcase what they had learnt till now to their mothers, Melinda's eyes searched for one. The kid had joined in just months back but had already learnt so well in the little time she had been here that she could easily match the kids who had been there for a long time. Melinda May couldn't help but refuse that she had a favourite student, Skye Daisy Coulson. May had always felt really really proud of the kid, she had felt how lucky her parents had been to have such a lovely kid as their daughter. The same thing had brought in a little pang of grief, she knew that she could never be a mother, an injury she had faced during her time in the army had assured that, she would've wanted to have a daughter like Skye some day, one who would make her mom proud of her achievements and her dad smile with pride every single time he saw the little girl. She removed the thoughts from her mind, she was grateful enough to be spending time with kids every weekends and meeting this kid, but where was she now ? She really wanted to meet up with the girl's mother and tell her how lucky she was. 

"Skye sweetheart, don't worry, everything's gonna be fine, I'll talk to Miss May ok ? I'm here right ? for you ? Please let's go" 

The voice coming from outside the room broke her rail of thoughts. She immediately rushed outside. 

"But you're not ..." Skye was screeching, her eyes puffy from crying, her face red, when she turned out to see May standing outside. She rushed over towards May and wrapped her arms tightly around May's legs. May couldn't help but feel bad for the kid. She bent down on her knees and held Skye when she buried her head into May's neck. 

May looked up to see a man, well built (he definitely had some training, May felt), around 6ft. Tall, wearing a Captain America T-Shorts and blue jeans, the colour of which matched the blueness of his eyes, eyes that spoke volumes, eyes that one could easily drown in if they wanted to ... Wait a minute, that's definitely not something May was supposed to be thinking about.  
Seeing his Captain America T-Shirt was enough to make her guess that the guy must be Skye's dad, no wonder the kid's outfits either had Captain America shield drawn on them or some Captain America quotes. Even the bag she carried had the shield drawn on it, and the action figures the girl carried were of the howling commandos and Peggy Carter. 

He looked at her a bit guiltily, his eyes carried a certain sadness she could quite easily recognise. 

She slowly removed the girl and held her by the arms and looked at her directly. 

"What's the matter Skye ?" May asked softly. 

"I .. I .. Don't wanna go .. To this .. But dad .. Daddy said I have to" she said trying to control the hiccups in her voice. 

"And why don't you want to go ?" May asked confused. Why didn't the girl want to go ? Why had she come with her dad for this ? She had never seen the girl's mother, usually her grandma came to pick her up and at times her aunt Maria would. 

"Because it's Mommies and Kids day and ..." She paused before she mumbled slowly "and I don't have one". She said the last few words almost as a whisper but May being the person she is, was easy to recognise what she had said. The girl's words just broke her heart. The 5 year old who was the most active, energetic and fun loving girl she had ever known was now silent and crying at it was a sight Melinda refused to accept. 

"But your dad's here isn't he ?" May asked looking up once again to see the kid's dad, carefully observing how Melinda is handling the kid. 

Skye nodded and looked at May wondering what she's trying to say. "And who does all the mommy things for you like making your favourite food,taking you to park,reading you bed time stories and taking care of you when you're hurt ?" May asked. 

"Daddy does" Skye replied immediately and confidently. May could see the pride on the kid's face and the smile that graced her dad's. 

"Then he's just like a mommy" May replied gladly. 

"Yeah" Skye said, her sad face now turning into something that resembled more like one with a smile. 

"So I guess he can come" May said. 

"He can ?" Skye asked surprised. 

"Sure" May replied. 

"But what if others tease me ?" Skye asked pausing a moment before saying "no I don't want to go" she said before turning around and hugging her dad who now picked her up. 

Her dad shrugged his shoulders and with a sad smile mouthed the words sorry and turned around to leave. 

"Well if you don't want to go that's fine, I just have to tell Ward that he's right" May replied. Skye lifted her head to look at her and Phil halted. 

"He said that he can easily beat you in a sparring contest and that Captain America isn't as strong as he seems" May said. 

"He said that ?" Skye asked, unable to believe that was what that kid had said. May couldn't help the giggle when she noticed her dad had a similar expression on hearing what had been said about Captain America, no wonder the kid was so obsessed with the super hero. 

"The only way to prove him wrong is to spar with him" May replied. She wasn't lying. The other coach John Garret, was always out to prove that he was a better than Melinda, and his student Ward had been a bully and ever since Skye had confronted him for bullying 2 kids Leo and Jemma, he'd been irritating the kid.

Skye looked at her dad as if asking for permission and when Coulson smiled back she wriggled out of his hold and ran into the training room to prepare herself for the match. 

"Thank you" Coulson said looking at May with a smile. May couldn't help the small flutter her heart had felt at that moment. Those eyes were indeed magical. She shouldn't feel this way, but ever since she and Andrew had divorced 2 years back after she returned from the army a changed person, she had never felt genuine attraction towards anyone. This was wrong, Skye was her student and this man with the world's most adorable smile ever, was her dad, and she didn't know why Skye's mum wasn't with her, so this was wrong, really wrong. 

"You're welcome" May replied putting forward her hand for a handshake. His had felt so firm, and assuring, yet so gentle when he had been handling Skye. 

"I'm Phil" he replied still carrying that smile.  
"Melinda" May replied. 

He was about to say something when Skye came rushing out. 

"Ms. May lets go, Daddy c'mon" she said rushing out and holding her dad's hand and pulling him inside with her. He just gave Melinda a smile and went in with his kid. 

May couldn't help but smile back. 

-o0o- 

The event was a huge success. All the kids proudly showcasing what they had learnt to their mums and the mothers looking at them with a certain sense of pride. Melinda couldn't help but feel proud herself. She had worked hard on training these kids and to see how well they had been doing made her feel that she had done right by taking this job after her friend Natasha had told her she was done with seeing May hiding herself and that she had to start afresh. 

May couldn't help but glance at Phil in between. Especially when it was Skye taking up the centre stage to show the moves she had learnt in the 2 months she had been here. The tears in Phil eyes, but the smile on his face was enough for May to feel that all the weekends while the rest of the world used to hangout and relax, while she was here training these kids was worth it. As she saw Skye perform, she couldn't help but feel proud like the other women out here watching their kids. Skye wasn't her kid, she knew, yet she seemed to have some sort of an emotional bond with the child. The child was a key figure in her life, one who taught her that no matter what life brings we should face it with confidence and a smile. Phil had taught the kid well. She was respectful, well mannered, always stood for what is right, just like Captain America. Melinda couldn't help the small smile that came on her face at that moment. 

When the time came for sparring matches. Melinda joined in along with the parents. She hadn't noticed Phil was standing beside her as she was too engrossed in seeing the kids spar. When Skye and Ward's turn came,she was definitely a ball of nerves. Grant was a strong kid, and Garret a ruthless coach. He had been training the kid for almost 7 months now and the kid was already an year elder to Skye, so unknowingly May was nervous and wondered how Phil must be feeling, but as Skye entered, the confidence that Skye's face carried was enough to refute all her worries. The kid was capable and May had done a good job with her. She'd do well. 

The match began and both parties were fighting well. The whole crowd around had gotten curious, they all wondered why May would make Skye, such a tiny delicate girl fight this strong kid ? The other kids were already divided into teams, Skye's friends cheering her name while Grant's cheering his. When Skye almost escaped from a kick by Ward, May felt her heart jump and when someone beside her held arm tightly she turned to see Phil standing there. No wonder he was nervous, maybe she had done a wrong thing by making Skye fight Ward,but he didn't look angry or tensed, he looked at his kid with confidence in his face. He knew his kid would do a good job, he wasn't one of those dad's who wanted to make life easy for his kid, he was someone who wanted to encourage her to face the toughest situations in life with confidence. That moment May realised the respect she had for this guy increased a million times. 

As expected by her, Skye had managed to beat Ward after pinning him after managing to kick him off balance and toppling him. May could see the anger on Garret's face, maybe she'll ask Ward's parents to have the kid transferred to her group, Garret wasn't really a good influence especially on such young kids, but right now all she wanted to do was go there and give Skye a tight hug and tell her how proud she was for her. She noticed Phil had beaten her to that, the kid was hugging her dad tight, as everyone around was clapping for her. The moment was wonderful to see, the way Skye looked at her dad with admiration and the pride in her dad's eyes.  
She didn't want to spoil this moment by interfering, so May slowly retreated to meet up with other mothers there,who were coming up to ask bout their kid's performance. May wondered why they needed to ask her when they themselves had seen how their kids were doing, but then maybe if she was a mum, she would've done the same, it always feels extra good to hear from the kid's teacher that their child is doing a great job. 

When everyone made their way to the snacks counter to gorge on the food there while the kids were busy chattering with each other, May stood back to take in the scene. Kids interacting with their mums, kids talking to each other. The sight gave her a new confidence to start life afresh. Natasha was right, Melinda just needed to find somewhere else where she felt belonged, and maybe she finally had found one. She wanted to tell Phil to continue letting Skye learn martial arts, she wanted to be a mentor to the kid and contribute towards Improving the skills the kid had. 

She turned around to a desk where filled up forms by prospective mom's, some who wanted to enroll their kid's siblings or maybe were suggesting a friend whose kid should join in, were kept. Along with them forms of some moms who also wanted to enroll into taking up classes, if not Martial arts then maybe Tai-Chi or something similar, to spend weekends with their kids, were kept. 

"She did a good job right ?" The same question asked for a hundredth time in the day but from a different voice, a very very different voice, one she was actually longing to hear again. 

She turned to see Phil there who was leaning with his back on the table and looking back at Skye surrounded by Leo and Jemma and some other kids. 

"She did" Melinda replied and turned around to stand along with Phil, "she's a great kid, you should make her continue training, she has a lot of talent, I would love to be her mentor, I'm so proud of her" May replied. Her every single word had been said with 100% faith. This kid did make her really proud. 

"You are ?" Phil asked a bit surprised.

"Of course" May answered immediately. 

"That's great to know, she really looks up to you" Phil said. 

"She does ?" May asked, her heart filled with the joy on hearing this. 

"Yeah, it's great to know she has a female influence in her life that she looks up to" Phil said, his voice a bit sad now. 

"She seems quite fond of her aunt, I've seen the way she feels excited when she comes to pick her up" May said. 

"Yeah but Maria spoils her, she's the pampering aunt, the one who brings chocolates and teddy bears and let's her stay up late watching movies on the days she's staying with her" he replied chuckling. 

Melinda had a smile on her face. 

"She never really cries much or throw a tantrum, like the one she did today" Phil said. 

"That's ok, she wanted her mum to come I guess" May replied understandingly, Skye was never a cry baby. 

"Audrey ... Her mum, she passed away when Skye was 2" Phil replied. "There had been a robbery at the house when I wasn't in the city and ..." He trailed off. May felt horrible, this man with the most calm face, and the wonderful smile, and the lovely heart, had been carrying so much grief and sadness. She knew how it felt to have been helpless especially in protecting those who depended on them, she had been through things like this during her time in the army. 

"That's when I decided Skye would never have to feel incapable of defending herself, after I moved here from Portland and when I heard this place gave training to kids from the age of 5, I decided to enroll her." He added. 

"I'm glad you did, she is a really capable girl, strong and confident" May replied. 

Phil was happy that she didn't sympathise with him, what many people do after hearing about his wife was to feel bad for him and Skye, no one would actually appreciate the decisions he took for his kid. May seemed to know that, that's why. He could see the admiration May had for his daughter. Skye was really fond of May, he had noticed that as May was the only person Skye would talk about for hours in the weekends. Even her regular school teachers who spent more time with her, didn't have such an influence on Skye, and it was right too, May was a much better influence for Skye than any other person. She cared for Skye but at the same time, she wouldn't let her be weak, she taught Skye to fight for herself, and stood there as a wall of support. She definitely had an emotional connection with Skye, that much he realised after the morning incident. He wondered if it would be rude to ask her the question he had been meaning to. 

"You're married ?" He asked a moment later. She looked up at him surprised. 

"I'm so sorry I asked that, I didn't mean to, I was just curious, I know it is rude and I shouldn't ask, but I was just curious, sorry if you're irritated with me, don't worry I will go..." 

"Phil..." Melinda replied and held him by the arm. Another thing the kid had just like her dad, rambling when nervous. She was just like her dad. 

"I'm not married, I was but we aren't together anymore" May said. 

"Oh" Phil replied. May could bet she saw him smile for a millisecond. 

"And .." Phil was unsure how to ask, but May could guess his next question. 

"No, no kids, I .. Uhh .." She wasn't sure how to explain. 

"Ok" Phil nodded understanding that she didn't wanna continue, another thing she liked about him. 

"Though it's great to be around these kids" May replied looking back at the kids. 

"Daddy ... Daddy ..." Skye came running to them and Phil lifted her up. 

"You know daddy, Ward was teasing me, saying that I cheated and that I shouldn't have won." Skye said. 

Yeah May was definitely going to speak to the kid's parents, Garrett was genuinely a bad influence. 

"He ... He said, I wasn't supposed to partic .. Partic... Parpicipate, because it's a mommy and kids day and I came with you & you're not a mommy" Skye said. 

"Participate Skye and he was wrong, but you didn't pickup a fight with him right ?" Coulson asked.

"No, but I will win again if I do" Skye said with a mischievous smile. She looked adorable. 

"No over confidence Skye" Melinda said. 

"Yeah Ms. May is right" Phil added. 

Skye nodded understandingly and said "you wanna know what I told him ?" 

Phil looked at her curiously. 

"I said what Ms. May told me, that my daddy is also like my mommy, and that I don't have a mommy but I have the world's best daddy and ..." She paused for a moment and looked at May. May at this moment was looking at Phil who had the widest smile possible on hearing what his kid said. 

"And I said that I have a daddy and Miss May." Skye replied. May felt her throat constrict at this. Here eyes burning up and her sight turning a bit misty. This was the most loving thing she had heard being said to her in the recent times and hearing them come from Skye, a girl she admired and loved, was a big gift for her. She at that point realised what it felt like when a kid tells their mum that they love her. 

Phil could see May, and the happiness clear on May's face on hearing that. Skye was indeed a big fan of this person, and he couldn't help but agree that maybe he was a bit of her fan too, especially after today. He was glad Skye had her in her life. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do but he still asked "Skye you wanna have burger and fries and ice cream for lunch ?" 

Skye's face lit up then she frowned a moment later and asked "but what about the lunch you had planned to make daddy ?" 

"We can do that tomorrow baby, I was wondering if Miss May would like to join us as well ?" He looked up to see May who was a bit surprised by the question. "That is if she doesn't mind" he added, he didn't wanna impose himself on May. 

"Really ? Would you please come with us Miss May, please please please ...." Skye added. May couldn't help but laugh at the face she made. She looked adorable. 

"I would love to Skye, but it'll take me 10 minutes to wrap up things here" she said looking back at Phil, to let him know that she really wanted to come.

"I'm sure there's a build-a-bear nearby, we can wait for you there till you're done" he added. 

"That'd be great" May said. 

"Thank you Miss May, let's go daddy" Skye replied getting down to walk along with her dad. 

She held her dad's hand tightly as they walked and May saw them going. She halted in between and turned around. She came back running and hugged May's legs tightly and said "Thank You Miss May." 

"You're welcome Skye, now go ahead, I'll join you in a few minutes" May replied, she saw as Skye went back to her dad, she looked at Phil who nodded at her with a smile on his face. The same smile that she had seen in the morning. She hadn't felt this happy in a long long time, maybe it was indeed time to start afresh.


End file.
